German synth-pop group Alphaville was founded in Münster in 1982. They became more well-liked in the 1980s. Singers Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens established the group. With the hits “Forever Young,” “Big in Japan,” “Sounds Like a Melody,” “The Jet Set,” and “Dance with Me,” they found success on the charts. The only constant member of Alphaville is still Gold.
After meeting in Berlin in 1981, lead vocalist Marian Gold and guitarist Bernhard Lloyd founded Alphaville. The duo absorbed a lot of inspiration from UK indie musicians like Tubeway Army, Gary Numan, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). After hearing the sound of Holly Johnson’s band Big in Japan, Gold wrote “Big in Japan” in 1979. They first called their group “Forever Young,” but later changed it to “Alphaville” in honor of the 1965 science fiction movie.
Together, the three created the song Forever Young and produced its corresponding first demo. The inaugural Alphaville performance was held in Enger, Westphalia, on December 31, 1982. The newly christened Alphaville put out their first song, “Huge in Japan,” in 1984. Gold recalled that in the beginning, “none of us could really play an instrument; the music was in our heads, but we were dependent on synthesizers and drum machines and things like that…. The equipment we had at that time was basically toys – the cheapest monophonic synthesizers you could imagine.